Hot Spot 1: Drifters Dock Released!

Starships aren't built in a studio; they're forged in the Ironworks.

Welcome to Hot Spots, the latest release from DSL Ironworks. Hot Spots are designed to be quick locations used in your Traveller games. Need a bar for a shady meeting in a hurry? Perhaps a desert outpost, a landing bay, starport concourse, or an ancient ruin? Hot Spots are designed to fill that need, featuring full color interior and exterior renders, scalable maps, notable NPcs, and adventure hooks to give the busy GM everything he or she needs to drop that location into their campaign.

Hot Spots are compatible with all Traveller products, but setting neutral so that they can be dropped into any campaign. Background details are left vague enough so that each GM can fill them in with information that fits their game.

Drifters Dock, Hot Spot 1 is available exclusively through DriveThruRPG.com

Greetings and salutations from the Ironworks.  To celebrate the crazy hot weather lately, we here at DSL Ironworks have decided to have a little fun, occupy some time while sitting around the A/C, and give away some prizes.  So, it's contest time - a deckplan contest, to be precise, with a twist.  We've put together a relatively simple base 3d model, complete with templates for the deckplan, BUMP map, and texture map.  Download the files, stat out the ship, draw up the deckplans, and then give it your very own paintjob!  Submit your design files (stats, deckplan, and texture files) to DSLIronworks at Gmail.com to enter.  The number of winners will be determined by the number of entries, with a minimum of 5 winners. 

1st Place - Digital versions of DSL Ironworks complete line, plus a print copy of TM1 - Reprieve-class Escape Pod.  2nd Place - Digital and print versions of TM1 - Repreive-class Escape Pod.  3rd Place - Digital versions of the Quick Decks line of products. 4th Place - Digital versions of any two Quick Decks products.  5th Place - Digital version of any one Quick Decks products.  Now, these are just the basic prizes, and some additional swag may be added.  All entries will also be collected into a free PDF to share with the Traveller community at large, with stats, deckplans, and rendered images of your paint job.

The rules are simple - the ship design must be 150 dtons, use the provided deckplan layout, and use the Mongoose rules (mostly to avoid any licensing issues).  Why 150 dtons?  It's something different, and creates some interesting design choices.  As for what type of ship...well, that's entirely up to you - escort, yacht, trader, whatever you decide to design.  And it doesn't need to be a full starship either - it could be a system defense boat, heavy shuttle, interplanetary shuttle, or something else entirely.  It's all up to you.

One last thing - final submission date for entries is August 20th, and the winners will be announced August 31st.  You can download the file package from the DSL Ironworks Blog (http://dsl-ironworks.blogspot.com/) or the DSL Ironworks Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/389798864400967/).  

DSL Ironworks Facebook group.

If you're interested, the home of DSL Ironworks on Facebook is moving to a new Group, as opposed to a Page.  You can find it here - DSL Ironworks on Facebook.  Basically, I decided on the move to a group to allow a bit more functionality, and as a place to consolidate all of the information for DSL Ironworks and this blog.  I'll still be making occasional updates here, but most information will be coming out through either the DSL Ironworks blog or Facebook group.  If you've been following me here (or just stumbled across me), I'd urge you to check out those two places.  By way of celebration, I'll be releasing a few goodies through the FB group over the next few weeks.  I hope to see you all there!

Work in Progress

Just a couple of shots of WIPs for future DSL Ironworks products.  More info is available at the DSL Ironworks blog.

Latest project...

Over at the Ironworks, I've been working on some ideas for deckplans using vector graphics...the basic premise is to have one page able to produce battle maps in a variety of scales (15 mm, 25 mm, or whatever suits you).  This is a mockup of the first test bed, a Kankur-class Frontier Courier, 200 dtons.  Both sets of maps (single page overview and 15 mm battlemap) were produced from one single page pdf using adobe acrobat X.  The battlemap measures roughly 22 inches by 34 inches.  I'm also working on putting together the 25 mm version, which totals 24 pages total.

Learning curve...

I put up a new cover pic for the DSL Ironworks Facebook page.  There was something about it that bothered me a bit, and I couldn't put my finger on it until Wayne (Scarecrow) Peters pointed it out - the lighting was fairly screwed up.  Hat tip to Wayne and Andrew Boulton for sharing some tips to help improve the pic. The top was one version of the original, the bottom the revised version.  The problem was the light was from the wrong angle, and the shadows were way too light.  I definitely like the revised version better.  I'll be revisiting this pic at some point when I have more time.

Greetings and salutations, readers.  Apologies for the long silence; it's been a hectic couple of months here on the home front, and I'm just starting to get things under control and get back to work.  On the business end of things, Quick Decks 2: Expansion Pack is undergoing final editing and correction today, so hopefully that should be available over the weekend.

On the personal front, I haven't had an awful lot of time to work on much relating to 3d, but I did drag out what I've got done on the Warsprite-class (based on a picture by Tom Peters) and began evaluating where I stand and what remains to be done.  At the moment, I'm working up deck plans, checking the volumes against the model to make sure they're at least fairly close, and debating what needs to get done first.  The majority of the model itself is roughed out, as well as the fighters associated with it.  For now, just a progress shot...

I missed the big announcement...

For those of you who aren't aware, I've entered the realm of Traveller publishing as DSL Ironworks.  In the craziness of getting our first product released, I forgot to mention it on my personal blog, which has been sorely neglected of late.

DSL Ironworks has it's own blog, located at  http://dsl-ironworks.blogspot.com/.  Our DriveThruRPG.com publisher page can be found at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?&manufacturers_id=4058.  And, you can even find us on Facebook Here.  Pretty much all of the product information will be released through the DSL Ironworks blog and on Facebook, as well as the major Traveller forums (COTI, Mongoose, and SFRPG).

At the moment, we're looking at four primary product lines.
1. Quick Decks - prebuilt deckplan sections that you can arrange however you like.  Our Starter Pack is already available, and the first expansion is in process.

2. Technical Manuals - Small craft ship books, aimed at a specific class of small craft, complete with deckplans, interior and exterior 3d renders, adventure hooks, stats, and notes about the design and development of the class.  The first one, TM1 - Reprieve-class Escape Pods, is finished and working it's way through pre-press.  It will be released as a PDF and full color softcover book.  The second, TM2 - Moke-class Launch, details a class of 20 ton launch and is currently in development.

3. Captains' Manuals - Ship books aimed at a specific class of starship, much like the Technical Manuals.  The first, CM1 - Astoria-class Corporate Transport, details a 500 ton starship used extensively by megacorps to transport executives, sensitive cargo, and a variety of other tasks.  It is currently in development as well.

4. Quick Minis - Given the dearth of good Traveller ship miniatures, I'm contemplating doing a line of paper minis geared toward starship combat.  These will also become an integral part of each of the Tech and Captains Manuals, including a sheet of minis with the PDF file.

This blog will still be active, although updates may be slow, and I do plan on continuing with some of my ongoing projects.  Thanks for checking out DSL Ironworks, and I encourage you to follow the Ironworks blog and facebook page; that will have our latest updates and information.